LYNN— The Walter J. Boverini girls basketball crown remains on Tremont Street. With a 62-34 win over Classical in Saturday’s Boverini final at Tech, the Spartans successfully defended their title- marking the fifth consecutive year they’ve won the tournament.
“It’s the first thing we can win. The first championship we can win, we win,” St. Mary’s coach Jeff Newhall said. “It’s bragging rights. You’re going to get everybody’s best shot. Not everybody’s the biggest fan of ours, we know that. You’re battling against a lot of things, not just the opponent.”
Pam Gonzalez, who was named the tournament’s MVP, scored nine points, grabbed 17 rebounds and tallied six blocks. Normally a guard, Gonzalez filled in at starting center for Janise Avelino.
“I think one of the reasons she was MVP is she had 17 rebounds,” Newhall said. “She’s probably never played center in her life. We asked her to play there at both ends tonight. She’s a versatile player and unselfish.”
Olivia Matela led all scorers with 12 points and Nicolette D’Itria scored nine. Gabby Torres added eight points and Yirsy Queliz finished with seven.
For the Rams, Amber Crayton scored eight points and Jean Gupton-Morrison added seven.
“I couldn’t be prouder of my kids,” Classical coach Tom Sawyer said. “They played hard until the very end, which is what we asked them to do. I couldn’t be prouder.
“We didn’t make shots but it wasn’t for a lack of effort. These kids play as hard as they could possibly play.”
In a sluggish first quarter on both sides, neither team had much going for itself. Matela and Torres opened the game with back to back three-pointers, forcing Classical to burn a timeout early. Skyler Crayton put Classical on the board with its first basket of the game four minutes into the period. Amber Crayton added a bucket at the buzzer and Classical trailed, 9-6, after the first eight minutes.
St. Mary’s started to distance itself in the second quarter. A 6-0 Spartans run out of the gate forced Classical to use another timeout. The Rams trailed 25-14 at halftime.
Things went downhill for Classical in the third quarter. St. Mary’s outscored the Rams 21-10 and took a 46-24 lead at the end of three.
“We were allowing Classical to dictate the pace of the game,” Newhall said. “Five-on-five, slow down, get back in the paint. We’re missing 3-pointers, our spacing was all screwed up. Third quarter, we came out and played full-court man. We tried to get the pace of the game going. We got better shots in transition, hit a couple three’s to open it up.”
Newhall emptied his bench in the fourth quarter as the Spartans coasted to the 62-34 win.
The win is St. Mary’s fourth in a row. St. Mary’s brought home a pair of wins from its annual Florida trip and defeated Tech in the first round.
“If we can continue to just worry about what we’re doing and get better, the results will be there at the end,” Newhall said. “We have a ton of talent. We should be winning games. You can make the argument we shouldn’t have lost two, so far. It’s still a work in progress.
“Between an early start to the season and going away for a week, we haven’t had a ton of practice. We have things we can improve upon. I think we just need to continue to play hard, that’s been the motto all year.”
The Spartans (6-2) host KIPP Academy Friday (5:45). The Rams (3-2) visit Salem Thursday (7).
“We’ll come back to practice and focus on the things we need to do to get better,” Sawyer said. “The focus doesn’t change. Nothing changes. The keys to the game don’t change, everything’s the same.”
